Michael Holding clarifies his criticisms on Hardik Pandya

When Hardik Pandya was running through the England batting line-up in the first innings of the third Test at Trent Bridge, former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding trended on social-networking site Twitter, having criticised Hardik prior to the match.

Holding said that Hardik is not Test match material as he was neither contributing with the bat nor with the ball. The former West Indian pacer pointed out that he was more critical of the people who compared the Mumbai Indians man with legendary Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev and not Hardik himself.

He also praised Pandya for having the right attitude when he said that he doesn't want to be known as the new Kapil Dev, and he would rather be known as the first Hardik Pandya.

Holding told the Times of India:

"Please go back and listen to or read what I have said about Pandya. I was more critical of the people who were telling me he is the next Kapil Dev, not of Pandya himself. I have gone on to say that he is not the man to fill that sort of role as yet, batting at No. 6 and bowling. What I am glad also to see is that I read somewhere that he had said he doesn't want to be known as the new Kapil Dev; he is Hardik Pandya, which is the right attitude. He (Pandya) only bowled 10 overs in the entire first Test (Edgbaston) and 17 in the entire second Test where the seamers on both teams were making the ball talk and batsmen were struggling. He got no runs in either of the first two Tests as well. He bowled a lot more in the third Test and maybe that is down to the fact that he got a wicket with his first delivery, which then convinced his captain to give him more overs than in the first two Tests,"

Hardik Pandya scored 70 runs and took six wickets in the third Test, including a fifty and a five-wicket haul, which helped India restrict England in the first innings and get a lead of 168 runs on the way to winning the match.